EIA: US LNG exports flat on week

Cheniere’s Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal in Louisiana, currently the only such a facility to ship U.S. shale gas overseas, exported five cargoes of the fuel in the week ending September 27.

According to the Energy Information Administration, five vessels with a combined LNG-carrying capacity of 18.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) have departed the plant since Wednesday last week. This compares to five vessels with a capacity of 17 Bcf the week before.

This also means that the liquefaction plant shipped at least 16 cargoes since September 6, when it resumed vessel loadings following Hurricane Harvey, with a total LNG-carrying capacity of 57.4 Bcf, the EIA data shows.

EIA also said in its weekly natural gas report that one vessel with a capacity of 3.8 Bcf was loading at the Sabine Pass terminal on Wednesday.

Destination-wise, Latin America and Asia-Pacific are continuing to be the preferred regions for shipments of US LNG.

The latest data by the Department of Energy shows that Mexico, Korea, China and Chile are the top buyers of the fuel coming from the Sabine Pass plant.

In total, more than 175 cargoes of US LNG landed in 25 different countries in the period spanning from February 2016 to August 2017.

Puerto Rico LNG imports suspended

LNG imports to Puerto Rico have been temporarily suspended due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Puerto Rico imports LNG primarily to supply a power plant, Costa Sur, operated by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and located in close proximity to the LNG regasification terminal Peñuelas.

Typically, Puerto Rico imports two to three LNG cargoes per month. So far in September, Puerto Rico received one LNG shipment on September 8, EIA said.

A second shipment left Trinidad and Tobago on September 12 for a typical two- to three-day voyage but had to wait out the hurricanes for more than two weeks. The ship then was unable to unload at the terminal and was diverted away to deliver this shipment to Brazil, the agency added.